Blood Is Thicker
by MilesTailsPrower-007
Summary: Metal Sonic revived... Rating may go up for future chapters
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This was written to prove that my writing isn't.... lacking as much as it did before. This was written to occupy my mind when I was alone, or when I didn't feel well. This was written because part of me was pleading to write it. Also, because recently the Sonic section as far as writing is concerned gets pretty... bad. And non-Sonicish.  
  
Blood Is Thicker  
  
The sun rose later than usual, it seemed. The night had dragged through like it would never end, but at long last daybreak had gradually shone through past the mountains and over the tree tops...   
  
Far below this, however... Past the sun's glorified morning rays... Someone whom everyone had come to know so well did not bother to rest. The dim light of the metal room gave everything a slightly odd greenish aura... capsules row after row... Robot prototypes, first copies, etc... A weary man pushed his goggles from his eyes to back atop his head, and let out a slight sigh, a cross between is massive annoyance, and exhaustion. Wearily, he let go of his metal tool and let it drop to the floor heavily, its metal-on-metal sound echoeing through the small area.  
  
"AWAKEN, YOU USELESS PIECE OF JUNK!" he boomed suddenly, somewhat startling himself at the loudness of the tone. "...How many hours did I put INTO this useless thing anyhow...?" Easy question, easy answer. Far beyond twenty-four hours straight, that was for certain. Shining blue metal sat still... the eyes pure black due to its lack of complete restoration. The body of the blue machine was still scratched and the exterior metal torn.... Pieces were missing. Thus far, the only part looking as it should was the face. The face.... twenty-four hours of straight labour had only repaired that much. To a genius of that level, this was more than entirely frustrating.  
  
Eggman kicked hard at the floor and slammed the capsule shut. "I wasted ages trying to repair you, Metal Sonic, and all I get out of this is a small amount completed." Annoyed, he stormed to the stairs and walked up. "Is there NO WAY to rid myself of that damned hedgehog?! Is this a fight I waste my time TRYING?!" He growled to himself, and walked to another capsule. Kept inside this one was another robot. Silver Sonic. Something he hadn't used in ages. The robot was far too slow for combat against Sonic, who ran easily thousands of miles an hour if he really wanted to. It definatly had the strength in its metal claws to tear him to bits, but it lacked the speed to catch him. Metal Sonic was the only one capable of keeping up; possibly one of his proudest machines, but likely one of the weakest.   
  
And then... a blatantly obvious idea came to him. So blatantly obvious, in fact, that Eggman nearly kicked something over in idiocy.  
  
Combine the two.  
  
Metal Sonic was fast enough, but far from durable and strong enough, and Silver Sonic was strong and durable, but definatly too slow....  
  
Excellent...  
  
He immediatly set to it, wasting no time. He tore alot of good strong pieces off Silver Sonic and set to adding to Metal Sonic...  
  
Meanwhile another mechanical genius was at work, only this one was using his skill for good. Miles "Tails" Prower rubbed sleep from his eyes as he realised it was now dawn, and smiled drowsily at his mechanic handy work. Like Eggman, he has unintentionally ended up with spending the entire night working, neglecting to rest.  
  
"Alright...! Finished... My new Cy----" He paused as a huge yawn escaped his mouth. "...Cyclone MK II..." he finished. His eyes closed half way and he forced himself awake. "Gosh, stop staying up so late!" he scolded himself quietly. He decided to leave everything where it was; he'd clean up after some rest. With another loud yawn, he turned and walked to his bedroom, paying no heed to the oil all over his white and buckled gloves, or how messy his fur and tails looked.   
  
Tails kicked off the red and white sneakers, and flopped heavily onto the bed. Dreams...  
  
Late morning sunshine flooded across the city, over the huge buildings, across the highways... over the shimmering ocean nearby. All was realitively quiet... Not much more to expect on a Sunday...  
  
"WOOOOO!" After the cry of thrill came familiar laughter, and moments later, hopping from building top to building top came none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Grinning in a way that was almost trademark to him, he took a loop around the pointed top of a sky scraper, and ran straight down the side of the structure, swerving drastically until he was about ten feet above the ground... At this point, the continued his high-speed run over the roads, free as he liked, surpassing the speed of everything else there was.  
  
Not a care in the world to Sonic...  
  
"...Mwaha... Assembly nearly complete..." 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: It seems anything lacking fancharacters doesn't get attention. Ah well. XD This might be slow, or I might make things happen fast. You can never tell with me.  
  
Blood Is Thicker Chapter 2  
  
Oil covered the floor, as well as odd ends of metal, and small pieces of wire. It was quiet again. The greenish aura off the metal walls bothered Eggman's eyes, and he was squinting slightly. The round light above his work area caused glints of light to bounce off Metal Sonic's cobalt blue metalic exterior. A weary sigh broke the silence. Several more hours of work had replaced Metal Sonic's weak arms with the stronger ones of Silver Sonic, and the metal had been plated over twice, partially with new material, partially with the metal off of Silver Sonic's front.  
  
Eggman kept a straight face and activated the machine. Metal Sonic's eyes turned on for the first time in months. A thin smile slowly made its way over Eggman's tired features, his lack of sleep causing him to look all the more insane. "Welcome back, Metal Sonic..."  
  
However, there was no such time for playing around. He took the robot, and placed him back inside a capsule to recharge. Metal Sonic's red eyes glowed through the tinted glass... God, that robot was incredible. Its features weren't so fine anymore, however, the strength it had was easily increased dramatically by the new replacement parts and additions to its body. This robot... could possibly mean.. the end of Sonic.  
  
  
  
A mile or two away, bothered by the later morning or possibly early afternoon sunshine, Tails awoke from his rest. He stretched and sat up with a yawn, shooting a small glance out the window. He dragged himself out of bed, slipped into his sneakers and wanlked back into the workshop. Tools were scattered the area around Cyclone MK II, and Tails recalled his silent promise to himself to clean that all up once he'd gotten a decent bit of sleep.  
  
With a small sigh, he bent down and began picking up the scattered tools and placing them in the metal tool box, staying quiet. "What a job," he muttered. "You'd think I'd be a little more tidy with my stuff here..!" Afew a minute or two, there were no other tools to be put away, and Tails proceeded to cleaning up mechine oil, which was all over the place.  
  
A firm knock sounded and Tails turned to look in the direction of the door. "Come in!" he called. Sonic's gloved hand pushed the door open and the blue hedgehog smiled.   
  
"Hey Tails! What's up, little buddy?"  
  
Tails smiled a moment, then went back to cleaning up the oil. "Oh, not alot. Just cleaning up the workshop now since I was too tired to do it earlier... ehe..."  
  
Sonic frowned slightly. "Lil' bro, don't tell me you pulled another all-nighter..." His voice sounded tinged in disappointment, and he looked at Tails, expectant of an answer. Tails didn't look up. "...I suppose you could call it that..." He reached up and itched part of his forehead with his thumb, then picked up the rag, now covered in oil, and tossed it onto a nearby worktable.  
  
"Tails, you honestly get me worried sometimes."  
  
Tails' eyes were locked on the floor, as he felt very uneasy for some reason. "I- I'm sorry, Sonic... I just get these good model ideas every once in awhile and I just kinda... go non-stop until I'm finished alot..." He sighed and Sonic crossed his arms. "Be a little more careful 'kay?" He walked closer to Tails and tilted his head up, smiling at him. "..Cuz I worry about my little buddy." He messed Tails' hair.   
  
"..anyway," he continued, his tone its regular cheeky-ish self, "have you seen the knucklehead around lately?"  
  
Tails shook his head. "Nope! Last time I saw him was when you and I took the Tornado 2 up to Angel Island a week or two back..."  
  
"Huh..." Sonic looked thoughtful. "Well thanks anyway, Tails. Have fun with your... machine thingy." He smiled and turned to go.  
  
"Wait, Sonic!" Tails cried. "If you come back later we could go up to Angel Island if you like. I can get the Tornado 2 all set..." He gestured toward it.  
  
"That's be cool," Sonic replied. "See yah then."  
  
Amy Rose was having a dreadfully boring day. A bunch of nothing was going on, when what she wanted was to spend an afternoon with Sonic. She was, after all, his self-appointed girlfriend. She walked through town, twirling her hammer in hand. The sky was getting dark from clouds.  
  
"Great. Nothing like a nice thunder storm to get me soaking wet on my way home," she grumbled sarcastically.  
  
A clap of thunder sounded, and Amy groaned. In afew moments light rain started to fall, rapidly increasing to a heavy downpour. Annoyed beyond belief, the pink hedgehog stormed back to her apartment, completely soaked. She tossed her Piko Piko hammer down on the couch, and went to dry herself off. Then she remembered what she had gone out to do in the first place: Look for Sonic.   
  
"Argggggg..." she growled, and picked up her hammer, dragging herself back outside. Today was ANYTHING but good.  
  
The rain poured loudly down on the pavement, and Amy (this time with an umbrella) went out to look for her love. Sonic HATED water, yet he somehow seemed to like the rain. No one was out; this was a rainy Sunday...  
  
She sighed loudy. "I wonder where Sonic is...?" The roads were empty on this part of town, and it was definatly dark for an afternoon...  
  
Metal Sonic stood staring silently, his first time in over a month to be out of Eggman's base. Now water-proof, the robot stood silently, the rain making an audible sound as it bounced off his metal exterior.... 


	3. Chapter 3

Authour's Note: Chapter two wasn't the end, duh. Progressing slowly, I know. But, heck, what can yah do?  
  
Blood Is Thicker Chapter 3  
  
Thunder crashed loudly and lightning made the metal on Metal Sonic shiny prominantly. He stood there... silent... stalking... then rain pouring down hard onto the roads... the sky darkened with the clouds. Waiting... waiting. What more was there for him to do..?  
  
Amy stood still, staring at Metal Sonic as he stared at her. Slowly a smile crept over her previously unhappy features as her lack of knowledge for this situation kicked in. "Sonic!!" she squealed. Without wasting another second, she let go of her pink umbrella and tore over to Metal Sonic, jumping on him. Sick realization over came her when she hit into the metal body and felt a sturdy metal arm wrap itself around her waste. Long sliver claw-like metal fingers gripped into her side.  
  
Amy shrieked. "AUGHH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!" She thrashed wildly. "LEMME GO, YOU METAL SCREWBRAIN!!!" Metal Sonic felt none of her struggling, straightened his firm hold around her slender waist. Amy squealed at him some more, Metal Sonic ignoring this completely. With a swift move, he shot off into the dark sky.  
  
Tails looked out the window at the raging storm and sighed. "Darn that! Wouldn't yah know it... Once I get my Tornado2 all ready to go up to Angel Island and everything, it starts pouring rain outside..!" He thought a moment. "I suppose this means we're postponing it until the rain finishes..."  
  
He finished cleaning up the workshop and finished all other minor tasks, then walked straight for the door. "Well, time to head into town..." He remembered the rain. "Darn it," Tails muttered. "I'm gonna be soaked!" The fox braced himself and dashed outside, trying to take as little time as he could. Needless to say, upon reaching town, he was soaked, as he had presumed..  
  
Rain came down heavily on the pavement, and the tall buildings loomed dark in the cold of the storm. How was one supposed to find Sonic in such terrible weather...? Becoming slightly chilled, Tails decided he'd stop by Amy's for a bit, and hopefully get dried off a little. Upon reaching her door, then rain still as hard as ever, he knocked hard several times. No response. And again... same thing.   
  
"That's peculiar," Tails thought aloud. "Why would she be out with the weather like this?"  
  
Two cold glowing eyes watched.. waited... Almost a stalker in the dreary weather....  
  
Amy was having a 'lovely' time in Eggman's base. Confined within a 30x30 foot prison cell, she knelt in the center of the small area, quiet. She'd given up yelling. Eggman hadn't even been near the area at all yet. The only one she'd seen was her captor. Metal Sonic, obviously some sort of remake or something.  
  
"Ugly thing," she thought. "I was stupid to think it was Sonic... Now look where I'm stuck..!"  
  
Tap... Tap... Tap...  
  
Footsteps on the metal... Amy snapped herself into attention and stood up. She went to the bars but couldn't see far enough around the corner. Eggman...? No... some sort of worker robot... This was no help. Without seeing Eggman or something else that she could talk to, there was no way out. Sonic probably hadn't noticed her absence.  
  
.........  
  
Well, THAT was no good.  
  
Sonic trudged to Tails' workshop, grumbling. He knocked four times, impatient as heck. Tails opened the door for him, as it had clearly been locked just prior. Tails burst out laughing. "Aha!! Sonic, are you okay? You're all dirty..."   
  
Indeed, the hedgehog was up beyond his waist in mud. "...Well it taught me running over dirt while its raining is a stupid idea... But ah well. No harm, huh?" He half snickered at himself, despite.  
  
Tails held the door open wider, and Sonic walked in.   
  
"What brings you out here again through the rain?" Tails inquired. "I was out looking for you not long ago! I had to give up due to the storm though."  
  
"Understandable. Any news on ANYTHING?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
Sonic's expression fell. "Ah well... I'll go make my own fun once the stupid storm clears up."  
  
"Wait! Sonic... Did you see Amy today?" Tails' expression faded into a slight frown. "...I was over to see her earlier and she wasn't at home..."  
  
Sonic shrugged it off. "Probably because she's out Sonic-hunting... and I'M the Sonic she's after." His eye twitched befroe he grinned cheekily, and Tails sighed.  
  
"I dunno if we should be playing around right now, Sonic." 


	4. Chapter 4

Strangely enough, I listen to E-102's theme to write this ;; ....And in the process, I found countless "humour" stories and SonicxAmy stories in the Sonic section. Woo.   
  
Blood is Thicker chapter 4  
  
A blue and orange plane zoomed at top speed through the clouds, the rain still pouring down as hard as ever. Knuckles stood at the Master Emerald's alter like a stone, his arms crossed, dripping wet as the storm whipped raindrops at his body. He watched this plane, distant as it was, as it darted amongst the clouds swiftly and smoothly, clearly at the hands of a skilled pilot.   
  
Knuckles shifted slightly. "Hmph.. Sonic and Tails... Strange of them to pay me a visit in weather like this.." His violet eyes followed the direction the Tornado2 headed in. It neared rapidly, lighning and thunder crashing just behind.   
  
"KNUCKLES!" Tails shouted, his voice barely audible over the sound of the engine.  
  
The echidna looked up as Tails and Sonic flew past, roughly twenty feet above him. "What's up?" he replied loudly.   
  
Tails circled back around, obviously looking for somewhere to land. The propeller whirred loudly. "QUITE A BIT!" he yelled over it. "BUT I NEED TO LAND BEFORE WE TELL YOU ABOUT IT!"  
  
Knuckles crossed his arms higher up on his chest and Tails hardly managed to land the plane nearby. It skidded a little way due to the wet ground, and Sonic and Tails hopped out.  
  
"Yo Knuckles!" Sonic greeted, just as soaked as his friend was. Tails followed not far behind, his arms crossed to keep himself warmer.  
  
"You guys are nuts to fly in weather like this," Knuckles grumbled. "So cut to the chase."  
  
"Amy's gone and we've got no idea where! She's been off for hours!" Tails exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah... It's weird, even for HER," Sonic added. "I've also got this weird feeling we haven't yet seen the last of Eggman because of it."   
  
Without warning, Knuckles hopped into a battle stance and fixed his eyes on an area not far off. "Sonic... get out of here.. Now!"  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Just GO!"  
  
Sonic and Tails exchanged glances, and Knuckles' eyes remained set on one spot. "Listen..." he said quietly. The three of them stood still, hardly taking a breath. First it was very small, barely noticable to the point where Sonic wondered how Knuckles could have heard it before, and slowly it grew closer. A whirring sound-- not quite like a propeller, more like the sound a small turbo engine would make.  
  
CRASH!   
  
Knuckles' eyes widened reasonably, and Tails dashed directly behind Sonic. Sonic's jaw fell. A plantinum-blueish robot stood straight, raindrops rolling off its metal exterior. Its otherwise pitch black eyes glowed in the center with an eerie red, unblinking and locked on the trio of allies. It slowly extended a silver hand, beckoning to them.  
  
"Whoa... its.. Metal Sonic..!" Sonic looked just about speechless. Knuckles tightened a fist. "Well he's down and out," he growled decidedly. "Come and get it, you rustbucket!" In response to these words, Metal Sonic jumped, pouncing like a big metal cat, and flattened Knuckles to the ground. Sonic and Tails backed out of the way.  
  
Knuckles threw the robot off himself, and it slid a little way. He pinned it down swiftly, then looked at Sonic. His eyes flashed. "GO! NOW!"  
  
"Knuckles! Geez, I can help!"  
  
"NO! Just go alright?!!"  
  
Sonic shrugged helplessly. Metal Sonic sprang up, shoving Knuckles into Sonic. Knuckles pushed Sonic away hard. "Just... go okay?!!" Sonic gave him a look, but said nothing. Tails bit his lip as the fight progressed, mostly just a game of one pinning the other down on the soaked ground and trying to hit him before he got up. Metal Sonic appeared to be taking it easy. Without warning, he simply darted away into the trees.  
  
"What the heck was that about?" Knuckles panted.  
  
"Eggman..." Sonic breathed, angered at the thought of his nemesis. "Ohhhhhh... So Tails was right..."   
  
Tails' ears perked forward and he looked straight ahead. "Sonic look! Eggman's ship!!" Miles ahead in the dark stormy sky, a dark shape drifted through the clouds. A flying fortress.  
  
"Awright! Time to crash his party!" Sonic said with a grin. "Let's high-tail after him, buddy."  
  
"Right!" Tails exclaimed, racing back for the Tornado 2 and hopping in. Sonic leapt up into the back. A whirring propeller started up, and the plane rode across the wet ground until it was easily lifted up into the sky.  
  
"Take care, you pair of idiots.." Knuckles muttered as he watched the plane speed as fast as it could from sight.  
  
Tails kept the bi-plane fairly steady in the awful storm, rain and wind whipping into his face and blowing his fur back. "He sure is far enough out...!" Tails said loudy over the engine. He couldn't quite make out what Sonic had saidin reply, but it sounded like an agreement.  
  
FZOOM.  
  
BEEP.  
  
FZOOM.  
  
BEEP.  
  
Tails perked up slightly at the oddity of the sound. It was fairly loud, but seemed distant. He took a short glance to the right, and, seeing nothing, decided it was nothing important and kept on-route. "It's probably nothing..." Tails thought calmly, watching the skies as he flew.  
  
SHHCCHHHTTTTTTTTT!  
  
"What the heck?!" Sonic's eyes darted in the direction of the sound. In a flash of shining metal, Metal Sonic darted past the plane's side and around to the other. Tails jerked off course somewhat, trying to veer off Metal Sonic's path.   
  
SHNNNCCCCCCCCCC  
  
The blur of blue and platinum metal darted by again through the dark skies, rain blurring the sight of it. This time, Tails took a huge turn, back in the direct of Angel Island, trying to get out of the way. Metal Sonic tried to head him off. Frustrated, Tails yanked the plane back onto the original route to Eggman's fortress. "...waste of fuel..." he muttered.  
  
"Ughhh... good timing, you metal head bozo," Sonic grumbled at Metal Sonic as it flew by again, taunting its turbo powered speed. "I can't even hit you when I'm not on the ground."  
  
"Let's ignore it, Sonic," Tails said loudly over his shoulder. "There's no use wasting time and power playing sky-tag with him like this!" And he kept on course to Eggman's.   
  
The flight in general was a fairly smooth one. The wind was getting bitterly cold, but the rain had slowed up. It was difficult to see their destination, as it was getting quite late. Slowly, the dark shape loomed nearer, and Tails pressed on with the speed.  
  
And then it cut through the clouds. A big, indigo beam. There was a sound like tearing... And the beam collided directly with the engine of the Tornado 2. Tails and Sonic both cried out at this. With a flash, the beam ended, and the engine burst into flame. 


	5. Chapter 5

Blood is Thicker chapter 5  
  
Tails nearly went into panic mode at the sight of the flames overtaking the whole front end of the machine. Trying his best to be brave about it and prevent the plane from plummeting to the ground in a huge ball of fire, Tails tried to keep it steady.  
  
"....Tails, I know you thought I would never say this... BUT DON'T YOU DARE CRASH THIS DARNED PLANE!!" Sonic cried out. Though visably shaken from the current events, Tails nodded confidently, working the controls in the same manner he always did, gradually dropping the altitude they were at in hopes of a safe landing. The terrible weather was no aid, as the wind only encouraged the flames....  
  
And the worst happened. The engine, which had been doing somewhat well up until this point, gave out. Tails nearly shrieked in frustration. He gritted his teeth.   
  
"DAMMITT!!"  
  
Just behind him, Tails could make out Sonic saying several harsh curse words under his breath.  
  
....Like a rock, the plane tilted directly downward, and began its flaming spiral towards the ground.  
  
"SON OF A--------"  
  
Sonic awoke with a cough. And another. He coughed several times, then managed to sit up. He could feel the blood pounding in his head. "Darnit... Mghhh..." He lay down again, now conscious of the fact he was in the hospital. What had happened...?  
  
Flames...  
  
"AUGH DARNIT!!" Sonic cried again. "We crashed the darn plane avoiding Metal Sonic!" Sonic glanced to the side. In the hospital bed about five feet away, Tails' eyes were flickering open. He choked a little, possibly because he had a breathing mask over his face, then closed his eyes tightly. His hands were mildly burned, and he'd obviously suffered from breathing in the smoke from the flame.  
  
But Sonic and Tails were both living, and that was what mattered.  
  
Sonic himself had miraculously only recieved some very minor injuries... cuts, scrapes. He'd inhaled the smoke as well, but not at all as much. "Tails, you alright, buddy..?"  
  
Tails managed to nod softly. "...fine. ...Really shaken and all, but I'll be okay..." He coughed a little.   
  
"...well at least we aren't dead," Sonic muttered. "In the hospital, yes, but neither of us are in terrible condition... Gawd..." He sunk back heavily.  
  
"....that's the last time I fly in a storm," Tails sighed, his eyes still closed. "I was so busy taking care with the bad weather I couldn't steer clear of that beam..."   
  
"Ohhh this is all that Eggman's fault. If it wasn't for the possibility of him taking Amy, we wouldn't have been out in weather like that, Metal Sonic wouldn't have sidetracked us, and we wouldn't have been shot out of the sky."   
  
"Sonic... just calm down a little... We'll be okay soon, and once we are, Eggman will have it comin' huh..?" Tails smiled faintly.  
  
"No kidding..." And with an annoyed sigh, Sonic the Hedgehog closed his eyes. 


	6. Chapter 6

Blood is Thicker chapter 6 (or whatever) Unhealing Wounds

Amy leaned back against the wall, slowly sliding down it and into a sitting position, her knees drawn against her chest. She let out a small sigh, mostly of irritation. Was she EVER going to get out of this place? Had anyone noticed she was gone? What if they took a day or two to notice? What then..? She slammed her fists down on the floor, her eyes tearing up. "Come and save me!" she cried at nothing.

"Well well-- Amy Rose..."

Amy's eyes darted up to see an eggshaped figure dressed mostly in red and black. Despite his eggshaped body, his limbs were thin, and he had loosely crossed his arms over his chest. "I suppose Metal Sonic had no difficulty capturing YOU, now did he?" A thin smirk crossed his face beneath his large moustache.

Amy scrambled into a standing position. "LET ME OUT OF HERE!" she demanded.

Eggman laughed. "I think not, my dear girl. What better bait for a hero than someone to save, ne? Besides, Sonic has a little surprise waiting for him when he gets here... If he and his two-tailed friend survived their plane crash!"

"YOU'RE HORRIBLE!" Amy shouted.

"Am I? Well thank you. I hope you have a lovely time on board my ship. I'll be seeing you!" And Eggman walked out.

"Ohhh.." Amy whimpered, sinking to her knees. "...I hope they're okay..!"

"Can you fix it?" Sonic asked, looking over Tails' shoulder as the fox worked. Tails scratched the back of his neck. "Well that lazer completely blew out my engine!" he said, inspecting what remained of the crushed in front end of the Tornado 2. "The back end is totally fine... but I need to redo the whole front, and get a new engine for this." He sighed a little.

Sonic crossed his arms. "How long do you think that would take?" he asked impatiently. "We have Eggman to deal with!"

Tails rested his cheek against his hand, thinking. "...I don't know. Maybe a week if I work for long days." He offered a weak smile. "At least there haven't been any world domination threats yet," he added somewhat brightly.

"True." Sonic responded. "But we have Eggman, and that messed up Metal Sonic thing to worry about right?"

"...not to mention Amy."

"Exactly. I can stand all this sitting around when there's an adventure waiting." He tapped his red and white sneaker on the floor.

Tails nodded once. "Alright. I'll stay here and work on the Tornado 2!"

The Egg Fortress. Massive, it loomed in the sky like a black cloud, dark and forbidding. Such a place could only be made by one person: Doctor Eggman. It's a wonder how much one could accomplish with an I.Q. of three-hundred and an army of machines to do your bidding. None the less, this massive flying structure had been erected in a period of six days.

Up atop it in the uppermost room, looking out his window at the stormy skies around him sat Eggman in a big black chair. He was grinning with satisfaction at how things were going. At a rate like this, the world could possibly be his this time. Sonic and Tails had no way up because of Silver Metal Sonic, and Amy would continue to serve as bait for them. All was going smoothly-- for now. In such a situation, it was best to stay alert. No sense in failing when he was getting so far.

"We'll see how much you can do now, Sonic," Eggman jeered, although the silence was his only reply. "I'll get you this time, and I WILL win."

A dutiful and serious-faced figure sat stiffly on the stone stairs leading up to the alter of the Master Emerald. The Chaos Emeralds were not his concern, and he hadn't seen them in awhile. Well, except one.

In his large gloved hand, Knuckles clutched the blue Chaos Emerald. He didn't know why, but something gave him the impulse to make sure that for the time being, nothing happened to it. Trouble was brewing itself in the skies. Silent as always, Knuckles shifted his position slightly, crossing his right leg over his left. The wind whipped his dread-lock like quills back, and whistled soundly through the area, but the echidna guardian payed no heed.

As long as things were peaceful, it was fine. All that mattered was the Emerald.

"Knuckles!" a familiar, somewhat nasal sounding voice called.

Knuckles turned his head. Sonic stood not ten feet away to the side, grinning cheekily with his hands on his hips.

"Whatcha doin', knucklehead?" he asked somewhat teasingly. Knuckles rose to a standing position. "I don't have time to play around with you, Sonic! Why are you here?"

Sonic merely stood grinning, returning the stare the echidna gave him.

Knuckles looked around swiftly. No sign of the Tornado, no sign of Tails. This was peculiar. "Didn't you guys crash the other day? What are you after now?"

The image of Sonic flickered, and Knuckles' eyes widened in realisation that it was all it was. An image. It flickered more, and turned semi-transparent before blinking out. "What the!?"

TINK

SMASH

With an angered snarl, Knuckles spun around entirely, dropping his Chaos Emerald to the ground just in time to see that odly rendered version of Metal Sonic blast the Master Emerald apart with a lazer shot. Knuckles threw several attacks at the machine in vain as it jetted off into the sky.

With a bitter and annoyed sigh, he looked around at the visable shards of green everywhere. "...not again..." He took no notice to why Eggman's robot would possibly want the Emerald destroyed.


End file.
